Yen (Yu) Matsutomi and Loral O'Hara worked alongside each other at Zucrow Labs during grad school in AAE, but a friendship budded beyond research.

“This is just an incredible honor,” Rhonda Walthall said. “I would have never dreamed that I would ever receive this award, this recognition from Purdue.”

“It is great honor to be recognized among peers that have accomplished great things in their careers after Purdue,” Stevan Slijepcevic said.

“I have always been proud to be a Boilermaker alumnus, and it is truly an honor to be recognized by my AAE faculty colleagues as having contributed something to our field and our profession,” David Schmidt said.

"It's an incredible honor," O'Hara said. "I feel very fortunate to be a part of the Purdue community, both then and now. So it's pretty humbling to get nominated for and receive this award."

"It never crossed my mind that I would one day get an OAE award," Yen Matsutomi said. "I remember sitting in the OAE banquet when I was a Purdue student, admiring in awe at the achievements that the awardees have accomplished. Being selected as an OAE means a great deal to me and is deeply humbling."

"For years I have seen the announcements of the selected honorees in the Purdue newsletters never anticipating that I would be so honored. I am so very grateful," Doug Joyce said.

"It's a great honor to be included among some of the most accomplished Purdue alumni," Darin DiTommaso said.

"The education I received at Purdue was instrumental to my career and allowed me to participate in solving some of naval aviation's most challenging aircraft and aviation development problems," Chris Clark said.

“Being selected as an OAE is a great honor, and I am humbled by the experience,” Doug Adams said. “It is truly the highlight of my career.”